


Nathaniel Hamschel Barton

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [188]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, dwarf hamsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-16 00:41:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3467981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Clint finds a cute little guy</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nathaniel Hamschel Barton

"Aren’t you a cute little guy?" Clint cooed at the little creature in his hand. "What were you doing underneath all that rubble?" He asked, lightly petting the dwarf hamster who in turn, shivered.

"Aww, You’re cold aren’t you?" Clint looked around the remains of the city block and found that people were too busy now to bother with such a small creature. 

Luckily for this little guy, Clint wasn’t like them. He dug one of the pockets in his jacket with his free hand (he found lint, a dust bunny, a stick of gum, a paper clip, a piece of string and more lint.) and placed the items in another pocket. He held out his hand near the slit of his pocket to let the little guy climb in. 

Said little guy immediately snuggled up inside and his shivering slowed.

Clint smiled to himself.

—-

"Nathaniel Hamshcel Barton! Where have you gone now?!" Clint placed his hands on his hips with a sigh of frustration. "Honestly, I look away for one second and you scurry off to get yourself into trouble." He continued to mumble while taking apart his quarters.

"C’mon Nat! It’s dinner time! I got you your favorite!" He tried, then whispered "Pellets from the store." 

He crouched down on the floor for the 6th time that night and tried looking for Nathaniel under his bed. Still nothing. 

When another 20 minutes has passed and he found nothing, he thought maybe it was time to give up on looking for the little guy in his quarters and start searching HQ. 

The only problem with that was that SHIELD HQ is a gigantic place, and it’d take him forever to try and look for the little guy. So that meant asking for help from his dear friends.

"So let me get this straight." Tony said, walking behind Steve and Thor with Bruce beside him. "We’re looking for a hamster?"

” _Dwarf_  Hamster. They’re tinier.” Clint threw over his shoulder.

"Perfect."

"And the rodent is named after me why?" Natasha asked.

"He’s not a rodent! He’s a pet."

"Technically speaking-" Bruce started, but shut his mouth when Clint glared at him. 

"And I didn’t name him after you. Don’t flatter yourself, Tasha. His name is Nathaniel. Quite a long way from Natasha. Ask anyone." 

Natasha rolled her eyes at him. “Right.”

"We’ll each take a section of the facility. I’ve sent you all a picture of him, and make sure to call me when you’ve found him." Clint explained. 

And that’s how the great Nathaniel hunt of 2015 started.

—-

Clint’s plan was simple enough. 

He’s going to go into Coulson’s office, pretend that everything was honky-dorey and quietly make sure Nat wasn’t in Coulson’s office. Leave before anything is-

Clint almost squeed when he opened the door to find Nat on Coulson’s desk, eating his way through a mountain of sunflower seeds, but of course he didn’t. because  _Clint Barton did not squee_.

"I assume you’re here for your little friend, Barton." It wasn’t a question so much as a statement. 

"I- uh- How’d you figure he was mine?" Clint tried, sounding unsure even to his own ears. 

"He has a little quiver strapped to his back. I put 2 and 2 together." Clint winced, closing the door behind him to avoid getting Nat caught. "You do know that domestic pets are not allowed inside the building, correct?"

"Yes sir. But I-" Clint paused trying to think of a reason for Nat’s presence aside from  _but I found him and he’s so cute and he snuggled into himself in my jacket pocket. We have a bond._

When the pause clearly wasn’t going to be followed up, Phil stood up and took Nat in his hand. “In any case, I assume you intend to keep him regardless of the rules.” 

Clint nodded seriously.

"Very well. Here you go." Phil outstretched his hand carefully, letting Nat travel from his palm to Clint’s. "If that’s all."

"Wait. That’s it?" Clint asked. "No report, no warning, no  _You know better than that Barton?”_

"Would you rather I do all those things?" Phil asked him, returning to his chair.

"No sir."

"Me neither. So as long as you keep his nose clean and out of sight, I don’t mind." Phil smirked in challenge at Barton. Clint nodded absentmindedly and turned to walk out the door but not before he heard Phil say "Besides, its cute."

"The Hamster, sir?" Clint asked.

"Sure." Phil huffed. "Let’s go with that."

—-

In the weeks that followed, Clint frequented Phil’s office more than usual with Nat as an excuse. Phil adored the little guy and even bought him a little cage with tubes and a wheel to exercise on. 

When Clint and Phil got together, Nat was there to witness it all unfold. From the argument to the unintentional confession to the heated kissing. Although to be fair, Nat was more interested in his sunflower seeds.

On their wedding day, Nat was the ring bearer. Guests were a little confused but not shocked at the non-conventionality but they’ve seen weirder things so it wasn’t really a problem.

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/112520080426/i-guess-tonight-is-another-sleepless-night-for)


End file.
